Punjab Parties Unite: 'No Extra Water For Haryana,' Special Assembly Session Called

Chandigarh: All political parties of Punjab on Friday put up a united show deciding that the state has no water to spare for Haryana and took a unanimous stand that any bid to force Punjab to give extra water to Haryana will be opposed.

A row has erupted over the issue of sharing the rivers’ water between Punjab and Haryana since early this week, after Bhakra-Beas Management Board (BBMB) decided to release more water to Haryana despite Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s strong objections to it. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government refused to do so, claiming that Haryana had already exhausted 103% of its annual allocated share of water.

Called by Mann, the all-party meeting that was attended by senior leaders of the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), BJP, BSP, CPI and CPI (M) also decided to back the state government to take the next course of action in this regard.

The state government has called a special assembly session on the issue on May 5.

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar who attended the meeting along with senior leader Manoranjan Kalia, said that the state BJP backed the state government on the issue and that injustice to Punjab will not be tolerated. He also said that an all-party delegation should meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

The SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said that all issues related to Punjab’s rights including rivers waters and transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, should be taken up with the Prime Minister. Congress leader Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said that all party leaders backed the state government.

Stating that there is no politics or political line on the issue, CM Mann said the governor has already given an approval for the session, and added that they – government representatives as well as the leader of all political parties - would also seek time from the Prime Minister after the May 5 session.

Haryana chief minister Nayab Saini, on the other hand, has also rebuked Mann’s stance, claiming that the latter was twisting facts. Stating that Mann was doing dirty politics over the issue, Saini said the water released by BBMB at the contact point includes 500 cusecs for Delhi's drinking water, 800 cusecs for Rajasthan, and 400 cusecs for Punjab itself. Now that AAP has lost the Delhi elections, Mann is making such statements, Saini added.

Meanwhile, the Union Home Secretary also called a meeting of the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan as the impasse over the rivers water share continued. Details about the outcome of the meeting were awaited.